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Olympic National Park and Port Angeles Fine Arts Center Partner to Encourage Arts in the Outdoors

PORT ANGELES, WASH. – Olympic National Park looks forward to welcoming both artists and art enthusiasts during the upcoming Paint the Peninsula Plein Air Painting Competition. Scheduled for August 21 through 27, Paint the Peninsula will feature 22 specially selected plein air artists from across the United States and Canada who will paint outdoors over the week to capture the Peninsula’s natural beauty.

The term painting “plen air” refers to creating a work of art outdoors. On Tuesday, August 22 all of the artists will paint within Olympic National Park. Members of the local and visiting public are invited to an awards ceremony and reception to meet and talk with the artists and park staff at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center on Wednesday, August 23 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The reception is free of charge and will feature the paintings created within the park the previous day.

“We are pleased to partner once again with the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center,” said Olympic National Park Acting Superintendent Lee Taylor. “We invite all our visitors to come watch the art as it’s being created.”

On Wednesday, August 23 and Thursday, August 24 artists will present demonstrations to the public at 9:00 am, 11:00 am, and 3:00 pm at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center and Lake Crescent Lodge at Lake Crescent. More information about these in-park demonstrations can be found at www.paintthepeninsula.org/schedule-of-events.html.

Visitors are welcome to watch the painters at work throughout the week and should call the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center at 360-457-3532 for location information.

The Port Angeles Fine Arts Center gallery at 1203 E. Lauridsen Boulevard will be open for the 5th annual Paint the Peninsula from Monday, August 21 through Friday, August 25 from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm. On Saturday, August 26 the galllery will be open from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, then from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm for the general awards ceremony. On Sunday, August 27 the gallery will be open from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm to feature all of the paintings from the week.

About the National Park Service.More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 417 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.